Christopher Greene

Christopher Greene (12 May 1737-13 May 1781) was a Continental Army colonel and the commander of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, a black unit that fought against Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured and killed by Tories in Westchester County, New York on 13 May 1781 for his leadership of black troops against the British.

Biography
Christopher Greene was born on 12 May 1737 in Warwick, Rhode Island, the third cousin of Nathanael Greene and second cousin of Rhode Island governor William Greene. Greene inherited his father's mill estate on his death in 1761, and in May 1775 Greene was appointed a Major in the Army of Observation of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In 1775, Greene commanded a regiment under Benedict Arnold during the expedition to British Canada in the winter, and he was wounded and captured at the Battle of Quebec, spending eight months in a British Army prison. In October 1776, Greene was promoted to colonel, and in 1777 he led the defense of Forts Mercer and Mifflin from Great Britain during the Philadelphia campaign. On 22 October 1777, Greene's regiment repelled an attack by Carl von Donop's Hessians, and Von Donop was killed in the battle. Later, he convinced the Rhode Island General Assembly to grant the same pay for white soldiers to black soldiers, raising the all-black and Indian 1st Rhode Island Regiment. On 29 August 1778, his leadership of the regiment at the Battle of Rhode Island and his holding of the American right flank earned him praise, as his men valiantly fought until the Americans decided to retreat.

On 13 May 1781, Greene, Major Ebenezer Flagg, and several black soldiers were killed when Tories attacked his headquarters on the Croton River in Westchester County, New York upstate, and his disfigured body was found a mile away from his tent. His murder was justified by the Tories as revenge for leading black troops against the British, and in 1786 Secretary of War Henry Knox presented an honorary sword to Greene's son in recognition of his father's efforts.